Chris Eaton Guitar

‘D for Dobro’ Chris Eaton

On streaming platforms from 1st February 2024.

https://www.chriseatonguitar.com

 

Following hot on the heels of 2023’s ‘The UK & Ireland Dobro Celebration’, comes ‘D for Dobro’. 

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Whereas the ‘Celebration’ album featured a collection of Dobro players from around the British Isles (compiled, produced and played on by Chris) ‘D for Dobro’ is a solo album, in every sense of the word. ‘I’ve always loved the sound of solo, unaccompanied Dobro’, says Chris. ‘I had these arrangements, which I’d been playing for ages, and felt it was time to record them’.

 

Conventionally, a square neck resonator (Dobro) is tuned to High Bass G tuning, similar to a banjo. It’s the standard tuning for bluegrass Dobro. However, some players also use Open D tuning which, with its lower register, is especially good for solo performances. Players of lap slide Weissenborn type guitars often use Open D too.

 

‘I came to lap style Dobro after playing bottleneck slide for many years, so I was familiar with Open D tuning, which is common for bottleneck’. ‘I used it as a way to learn the Dobro and subsequently started arranging well known songs as solo pieces’. ‘Open D is actually an easier tuning to start in, but if you want to play bluegrass and join jam sessions, the G tuning is required’. ‘I learnt that in Nashville, where I went to study Dobro’. ‘I wasn’t familiar with High Bass G tuning at the time and found it tricky to jam along, as I didn’t know the standard Dobro repertoire, which is predominantly bluegrass based’. ‘Nowadays I run a bluegrass jam in Brighton, featuring players I’ve met locally’. ‘Thanks to the British Bluegrass Music Association and Facebook groups, I’ve also discovered other jam sessions in the South East, which I love to attend as often as possible’.

 

Chris is a professional musician with a portfolio career comprising of: composing, recording, writing, teaching and performing. His Dobro compositions have been used worldwide on TV shows and he has written for various UK guitar magazines, including interviewing Dobro legend Jerry Douglas. Last summer he ran Dobro workshops at four of the biggest bluegrass/Americana festivals in the UK, as well as teaching at Sore Fingers bluegrass school during their Autumn weekend event.

 

‘Being asked to teach at Sore Fingers was a career highlight for me’. 'Plus, the fact that Ron Block from Alison Krauss & Union Station was teaching banjo that same weekend’. ‘I got to hang with him and play together on stage, it was amazing’. ‘Getting to know the UK bluegrass scene has been great fun’. ‘It’s very satisfying to find a scene where the Dobro fits in naturally’. ‘Nobody’s asking me why I’m holding my guitar the wrong way, ha-ha, they know what it’s called and what it’s role is’. ‘For a musician, being part of a scene is important, it helps clarify your identity and develop your profile’.

 

Tuition videos and TAB available from: https://www.chriseatonguitar.com

 

The trademark ‘Dobro’ is used with permission from Gibson Guitars (2024)

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D for Dobro

A Collection of Solo Arrangements Using Open D Tuning

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1. Be Thou My Vision (Trad)

2. The Tennessee Waltz (Patti Page)

3. Midnight Rider (The Allman Brothers)

4. Carolina in my Mind (James Taylor)

5. Key to the Highway (Big Bill Broonzy)

6. Ho Hey (The Lumineers)

7. The Leaving of Liverpool (Trad)

8. Always on my Mind (Elvis)

9. Shenandoah (Trad)

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